When Alfredo Corchado announced his plans to become a journalist, his father made one request. Whatever you do, he said, don't cover drug trafficking or organized crime. Corchado hops back and forth across the border tracking those very beats as Mexico bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News. He'll talk about the drug war, the two countries he claims, and the risks he took to write Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter’s Journey Through a Country’s Descent into Darkness at noon on Think.
Corchado says there was at least one moment where he reconsidered this career path. While having drinks with fellow journalists at Agave Azul in Laredo, a stranger sent him shots of Don Julio. The man came to Corchado's table across the room and threatened to kill him and cut his body into pieces. And he'd record the reporter's murder for his mother to watch.
That night, safe in his hotel room, Corchado thought he might be better off reviewing movies or covering sports. But then a tragedy in Mexico changed his mind and renewed his commitment to those without a voice. Listen to him tell the story on Snap Judgment.And you can read an excerpt from Midnight in Mexico via The Dallas Morning News.
There are three chances to see Corchado in North Texas this weekend: He'll speak at SMU’s Meadows Museum this evening at 6:30 in a joint program from The Dallas Morning News and SMU’s Tower Center for Political Studies. He'll be at Klyde Warren Park from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Friday at The Dallas Morning News Reading & Games Room. And then he'll address the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas.
Listen to Think from noon to 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday, on KERA 90.1. You can stream the show at kera.org.
